Should we be concerned by the escalating right-wing threats of violence?... Does the Pope wear a funny hat?

We have seen more than a year of veiled and open threats of violence peppered throughout the rantings, chantings and signage of the far right-wing, Tea Party protest crowd since President Obama took office.

The passage of health care reform into law represents the second major defeat that right-wing partisans have suffered in just over a year and the sting is starting to cause some extremists to escalate the ugliness that has become the hallmark of the right-wing Tea Party movement.

One of the more alarming aspects of the heightened threats and allusions to violence at many of these rallies and protests is the presence of GOP lawmakers blissfully ignoring signs and protesters who are openly threatening violence in the streets.

With the nightly egging-on by the likes of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage, can we be far off from the first real violence that will undoubtedly erupt if this emotion and fear-driven populist rhetoric continues on it's upward spiral?

The numbers of LiveLeakers I see espousing violence against their fellow citizens for holding opposing political views are no doubt greatly enhanced by the anonymity afforded by the internet.

Spitting threats and venom while safely hiding behind made-up screen names and avatars is to the Tea Party movement of today, what white hoods and robes were to southern racists during the reconstruction period.

It's disturbing nonetheless to note that so many past atrocities and inhumanities in history were allowed to germinate and take root in the same fertile soil of today's fear-based, reactionary, conservative populist movement.

I think the far-right's call to violence against their fellow citizens could do far more damage to the fabric of America than any real or imagined socialist conspiracy ever could.